# Cuban Box Date Codes



## Kesler (Aug 30, 2003)

Is there any way a real cuban date code would be put on in the 4 didit year? Example 2004


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

i personally have not seen that, nor seen any photos of the current 04s with a full "2004" on them. but who am i to say for sure.


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## Kesler (Aug 30, 2003)

IHT said:


> i personally have not seen that, nor seen any photos of the current 04s with a full "2004" on them. but who am i to say for sure.


any year?


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

i don't know if club stogie/top25 has a gallery of some box codes, but another site has a recent article about them with some photos of the box codes. and if i remember correctly, as i'm a newbie, most early box codes were actual "codes" and there were no #s for the years.


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## Kesler (Aug 30, 2003)

Thank you, great site!


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## poker (Dec 11, 1997)

> Is there any way a real cuban date code would be put on in the 4 didit year? Example 2004


Possible, but I havent seen it.

Heres a link to most of the known codes: Click Here


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## hogg (Oct 13, 2003)

I thought we learned (here on CS?) that they had recently done this on occasion?? Was that example bogus?


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## Fat Tony (May 13, 2004)

here's another location with some box code info...http://www.smoke.co.uk/dating-cigars.htm


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## DaveC (Sep 4, 2003)

i've never seen a full year on a box yet, i have on ebay though


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## Bruce5 (Jul 27, 2003)

Be careful, there is a large counterfeit operation making cuban cigars where everything is identical except for 2 things: 1) the 4 digit year on the box code and 2) the tobacco being used in the cigars. 
.
There was a large run of fakes with box code 2003 and 2004. I can not recall the factory... but the boxes and bands were identical.... Best fakes ever. The seal even showed the 2nd shield under a black light. The only way I could tell was the taste. 
.
I have seen 2 internet sites with boxes that had 4 digits, but as it is so odd, ... why bother.


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

i'm with bruce. better to be safe than sorry. go for what you KNOW to be legit.


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## MoTheMan (May 24, 2003)

Hey Kesler,

Are you buying Cuban cigars from Miami again?


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## DaveC (Sep 4, 2003)

MoTheMan said:


> Hey Kesler,
> 
> Are you buying Cuban cigars from Miami again?


anybody who knows anything would buy from Miami! all the good canadian sources ship from there to avoid customs u


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## cigar mark (Jan 31, 2004)

gee once again here we go about codes i have seen and recieved EAR2004 boxes factory code is good date is wrong looks good taste is good boxes are good seal is good is it real or fake? pokers sight shows EAR factory as la corona


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## BoxofRain (Jan 16, 2004)

The 04's ive seen and have are all just as the 03's 02's 01's, 3 digit month and 2 digit year. In cuba at the 5 LCDH's i looked over and under, same thing 3/2 (Dic 03). Just my belief unless something changes.....but we are talking about Cuba.


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## MoTheMan (May 24, 2003)

cigar mark said:


> gee once again here we go about codes i have seen and recieved EAR2004 boxes factory code is good date is wrong looks good taste is good boxes are good seal is good is it real or fake? pokers sight shows EAR factory as la corona


I keep telling people that as long as you like what you're smoking, enjoy it, feel that you paid a good price for it. Hey, all the more power to you.

On the other hand, if it's important to authenticate what you're buying, always go with what Cuba is using to mark their boxes. There are tons of counterfeits out there and the range of the quality is huge. It's really up to you to decide if what you're buying is legit, but I believe most people here will tell you that when travelling overseas they'll go to extra trouble and sometimes extra expense to make sure that what they're buying is 100% authentic.

Again, here's a copy of my posting on another string. Fool you not, this converstion really happened on 6/22 and I posted it here on 6/23.

_This is a true story. Happened in my office just yesterday [6/22].

Was talking to this gentlemen who's a world traveller (works in politics). He was telling me that he was planning a trip to Cuba sometime in October but then he's starting to worry because of newer Bush sponsored legislation about travel & trade with Cuba. Seems he goes to Cuba about twice a year -- he has friends that live there. So we got to talking about cigars when this gentleman goes on to tell me that he often picks up 3 to 4 boxes of Cubans that he gets off the street at a cost of about $25 a box (!!!) and is able to bring them in with him and then sell them for between $250 and $300 per box, mostly to offest the cost of his trip. To him, these cigars are real Cuban and probably no different from factory made ones. He asked me if I'd like him to pick up a box for me on his nex trip but I told him that I'd prefer to pay a little more & purchase one made & sanctioned from a factory in order to guarantee the authenticity of it. He didn't seem to mind

Well, here's what I have to say about all this.

1) I really couldn't believe this guy was that blatant or that he's actually able to sell these cigars that easily.

2) I couldn't believe that to him, the street counterfeits were considered the equivalent of factory ones!!

3) Yes, these are what I'd call fake Cubans because they are not genuine, sanctioned factory products.

4) Now this doc really don't know me too well, do he?! [Hee, hee]_
MoTheMan


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## The Rev (Feb 26, 2005)

Here is a picture from the bottom of a Punch Punch box that I am certain is the real thing. (well, the vendor is beyond reproach IMHO and has a sterling reputation and a lot and I mean a lot to lose selling fakes)But, please chime in if you think this may be a box of fakes, too.


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## smokeydude (Oct 5, 2005)

The Rev said:


> Here is a picture from the bottom of a Punch Punch box that I am certain is the real thing. (well, the vendor is beyond reproach IMHO and has a sterling reputation and a lot and I mean a lot to lose selling fakes)But, please chime in if you think this may be a box of fakes, too.


  I've never seen this before, and didn't think it possible. However, I believe that Rev is correct.

Habanos have some strange quirks! I hate to say it, but with rotating factory codes added to all the usual inconsistencies, the box code really doesn't mean all that much anymore. I mean, I don't think I would buy that box from someone I didn't trust but, that doesn't mean they're fake. Maybe the stamp broke and that was the only other one they could find. Who knows, lots of strange stories around and many confirmed by people who really know what they're talking about. Trust and taste is always the real determining factor.


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## One Lonely Smoker (Jan 21, 2005)

cigar mark said:


> gee once again here we go about codes i have seen and recieved EAR2004 boxes factory code is good date is wrong looks good taste is good boxes are good seal is good is it real or fake? pokers sight shows EAR factory as la corona


If that was your code, you probably got hosed, no matter how the cigars looked or tasted to you. EAR2004 is at the very latest a 2003 code and you list no month code. I realize that you may not be writing out the entire code from memory, and maybe there was a month code in your EAR code, but I stick by my initial impression: If that's what you got, you likely got hosed. :2

What Mo says is pretty much all you need to know. If you like the taste, who cares what I think or he thinks or whoever. But if you choose to chase the rabbit down the hole, be prepared for a long stay in "wonder"land.


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## Kesler (Aug 30, 2003)

One Lonely Smoker said:


> If that was your code, you probably got hosed, no matter how the cigars looked or tasted to you. EAR2004 is at the very latest a 2003 code and you list no month code. I realize that you may not be writing out the entire code from memory, and maybe there was a month code in your EAR code, but I stick by my initial impression: If that's what you got, you likely got hosed. :2
> 
> What Mo says is pretty much all you need to know. If you like the taste, who cares what I think or he thinks or whoever. But if you choose to chase the rabbit down the hole, be prepared for a long stay in "wonder"land.


I gave up looking for deals and not being sure if the cigars were real. I stick with one vendor who I have never had a question with. However one of the first boxes I bought in a back room of a cigar store had a fake code on it and the cigars were good. Would I buy another box? No! I just don't want to gamble with my smoke time. Live and let live: Smoke what you want when you want.


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## dlctwice (Oct 13, 2005)

Kesler said:


> Is there any way a real cuban date code would be put on in the 4 didit year? Example 2004


I have never seen that format on any box since they started that format back in...2000? Was that the year? Anyway, Personally, I would be wary of a box that had the full four number date on it. Not that I'm the cat's ass or anything, but I've run across a box or two
Good Luck!
dlctwice


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## PadronMe (Apr 26, 2005)

I also have a box from a reputable source that has the 4 digit year(2005). No other signs of fakes and I had a few other BOTL's ok the source before I got them.


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## cigarking (Jun 5, 2003)

The Rev said:


> Here is a picture from the bottom of a Punch Punch box that I am certain is the real thing. (well, the vendor is beyond reproach IMHO and has a sterling reputation and a lot and I mean a lot to lose selling fakes)But, please chime in if you think this may be a box of fakes, too.


Looks real to me(font and ink colour), those astrix's on each side are strange also. Then again is anything consistent out of Cuba!!!


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## Fredster (Jan 26, 2004)

The Rev said:


> Here is a picture from the bottom of a Punch Punch box that I am certain is the real thing. (well, the vendor is beyond reproach IMHO and has a sterling reputation and a lot and I mean a lot to lose selling fakes)But, please chime in if you think this may be a box of fakes, too.


Would you mind PMing the vendor to me?


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